Period
of Significance : The period 1889-1912 represents the period during which
the building was occupied by its primary historic industry: The E. Van Winkle
Gin and Machine Works

Significant
Dates :1880s - Construction of Building:

Boundary
Justification: 11.3 acre site is bounded
by a junction of north-south and east-west railroads; main lines swept past
the complex along its south side and around to the west.

Description
of Architectural Classification : utilitarian industrial

This black and white etching appears to be c. 1910 -1915 indicated
by the Model T's (first manufactured by Henry Ford in 1908 ). This view is from
the Southeast and the artist could have sat on the roof of the White
Provision Company to begin the sketch of this scene.

Known locally as "Murrays Mill" this sprawling complex of buildings on 11.3
acres has a distinctly European flavor with internal streets scaled for the
horse and buggy and handsome brickwork. Most of the buildings are constructed
of brick load bearing walls with heavy timber interior structures supporting
wood plank floors and various roofing systems. Cast iron columns can be found
on the ground floor of several of the buildings and building heights range from
one to three stories.

Beside demolition, the roof is the most defining factor in the survival of
old buildings. Unfortunately, some of the relatively delicate heavy timber roof
systems at Murrays Mill require constant and vigilant maintenance. For about
the last 20 years some of the buildings have been slowly slipping into picturesque
decomposition.

ABOVE: This photo was is taken in 1999 of the same southeast
walls as the c.1910-1915 aerial etching. The old main administrative office
building (Building # 10 in description towards bottom of page) is seen
in the foreground.

Scenes in the first part of the movie "Kalifornia" starring Brad Pitt and X-Filer
David Duchovny were filmed at Murray Mill in an open environment towards the
west part of the acreage. The water tower makes multiple appearances in the
camera work.

ABOVE: This 2nd color photo is the North and East elevations
of the old administrative office building in 1999. Recently collapsing
beams kicked outward causing damage to the front facade. Fortunately many
parts of this complex have working roofs and 30-40 full time tenants and
working establishments keep the buildings fairly leak free. The Fulton
County Jail mentioned at the end of Howell
Station Historic District can be seen misty in the distance.

The Builders and
Inhabitants

1889-1912 -Van Winkle Gin and Machinery Co.

The
Murray Mill Complex was built by E. Van Winkle and proudly opened as the E.
Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works. A stone plague set into the brickwork above
a drive through a central archway announces 1889 as the official first year
of operation, following a European and American tradition of dating buildings
for future generations.

From Atlanta and Environs by Franklin M. Garrett pg. 849 Vol. I in reference
to Atlanta's post Civil War growth:

A major factor in the growth of Atlanta as an industrial center has
been the high caliber of citizens the city has attracted from other parts
of the country. One such citizen, who arrived in the spring of 1870, was
Edward Van Winkle (1841-1923), a native of Paterson, New Jersey, and a
son of a successful builder of cotton machinery. During a visit to the
south, Mr. Van Winkle noted that this section was a promising field for
mechanical skill and decided to settle in Atlanta. He soon set up shop
in a small wooden shed on the Western & Atlantic R.R., near foundry street,
and aside from general foundry work, began to manufacture a power cotton
press of his own patent. Success attended his efforts and, in 1880 W.W.
Boyd became a full partner in the firm, then known as E. Van Winkle &
Co., located at Marietta and Magnolia streets. In 1884 branch works were
established in Dallas, Texas. A full line of cotton gins and cotton oil
machines was featured, and continued growth necessitated another change
of location during the 1890's. This time a commodious brick plant was
erected three miles out at the juncture of the Western and Atlantic R.R.,
and Seaboard & Southern R.R.--the present location of the Murray Company,
successor to the Van Wrinkle Gin and Machine works. At the turn of the
century officers of the Van Wrinkle enterprise, besides the founder, were
Edward P. McBurney, vice-president and Mell R. Wilkinson, secretary treasurer.
Edward Van Winkle was married in 1864, to Miss Amelia King, of San Francisco,
California. The imposing red brick home, in which he died in 1923, stood
for many years at the northwest corner of West Peachtree and Third streets.
Edward Van Winkle, widely known Atlanta contractor, is a grandson.

From Peachtree Street, Atlanta by William Bailey Willford pg.100 in
reference to the owners family's' private existence:

Midway in the same block a two-story house with classic proportions
and stately columns was constructed of cream colored brick for Edgar Poe
McBurney (Pg. 157 of the same book says this location is 1300 Peachtree
Street, the present day location of the High Museum). The owner was president
of the Empire Cotton Mills(?)
and was prominently identified with other business and civic undertakings.
Although old Atlantians mentioned with pursed lips that his father had
been a "Yankee informer" while living in Macon during the Civil War, the
son was highly regarded. Beautiful gardens were designed at the Peachtree
Street house under the skillful direction of the second Mrs. McBurney,
and soon "Villa Nelili" was one of the showplaces of Atlanta. On the property
to the south of the McBurney residence Mell R. Wilkinson built a spacious
two-story house of stone and brick. Of no great architectural distinction,
it was nonetheless an imposing addition to the Peachtree scene. Mr. Wilkinson
had for some years been associated with his father-in-law, Edward K. Van
Winkle, in the Van Winkle Gin and Machinery Company. He chose the site
of his new home because of his close friendship with Edgar Poe McBurney,
whom he had come to know while both were Bell House boys. Mrs. Wilkinson
and the queenly second wife of Mr. McBurney were both natives of Paterson,
New Jersey.

1912-Mid 1960's -Murray Company

Mid-1960's -1972 -Trust Company of Georgia .

1972-PRESENT - Robert Haywood & 30-40 tenants

E.
Van Winkle Gin and Machine Workswas accepted by the National Register as a Historic Place in
1979.

-The
Following is taken from the National
Register Nomination
Records-

Developmental history
/ historic context

The
E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works (the Murray Company) complex is significant,
historically, as one of the largest industrial complexes in Atlanta and the
South both at the time of its' construction in the late nineteenth century and
remaining from that era today. It is significant in architecture, landscape
architecture and engineering as a well-integrated complex reflecting the use
of details to highlight the conservative, utilitarian construction of the factory
that shows, through its growth, the technological advancements of the era.

This complex first opened in 1889 and was Edward Van Winkle's (1841-1923) third
Atlanta location. Van Winkle, the New Jersey-born son of a successful cotton-machinery
builder, came to Atlanta in 1870 at the age of 29, where he formed a company
that filled a gap in the cotton industry. This complex reflects his success
after two decades. The site which was serviced by three separate rail lines
and at its peak contained over 15 buildings, remains one of the largest cotton-related
industrial complexes in the South.

Shole's Georgia State Gazetteer for 1879-1880 lists fewer than ten cotton
gin manufacturers. These were in the major cotton-belt cities of Atlanta, Augusta
and Macon, as well as in smaller towns, Fort Valley, Newnan and Smyrna. Van
Winkle was listed in the directory under "machine shops" along with firms specializing
in cast-iron products. In the 1879-1880 edition, he advertised:

He soon specialized solely in cotton-related machinery, for in 1898, he advertised:

... Manufacturers of Modern Ginning Outfits. Complete Pneumatic System
for Handling Cotton From Wagon to Bale. Cotton Seed Oil Machinery, Local
Oil Mills and Ginneries Combined.

In a 1903 advertisement, Van Winkle listed the many awards his firm had won
during the 1880s:

1881--- "Best Cotton Gin" at the International Cotton Exposition held in
Atlanta.

1885--- "Best Cotton Gin Feeder" at the Texas State Fair held in Dallas.

1886--- "Clarke Seed and Cotton Cleaner," "Best Cotton Gin" and "Best Cotton
Gin Condenser," all three awarded at the Texas State Fair held in Dallas.

These awards indicate the national stature of the Van Winkle Company.

At this time, Van Winkle was one of only three cotton-gin manufacturers in
Atlanta and the only cotton-seed-oil mill producer in the state. This latter
industry, where a product was salvaged from the cotton seed, long a forgotten
resource, was a late one for the cotton industry, since farmers had long wasted
the cotton seed.

Between 1870 and 1890, the first two decades of Van Winkle's Georgia factory,
cotton manufacturing in Georgia quintupled. Georgia, like the rest of the "New
South," was becoming more receptive to industrial growth, allowing Northerners
to move in and establish large factories. This was in direct contrast to the
ante-bellum isolationism that led to the Civil War. It was these Northern industrialists,
like Van Winkle, who, with their insight and ability, led the way for the South
to reach an industrial level heretofore unknown.

Van Winkle selected this location, as the third and final site for his factory,
due to its remoteness from the city and its proximity to several rail lines.
He always kept his office "downtown." At the peak of his business career, Van
Winkle flourished at this location within the great variety of buildings which
can still be seen. The growth of the complex is reflected in the additions and
changes to the buildings which range from warehouses to foundry buildings. Van
Winkle had a branch office in Dallas, Texas, as early as 1884.

Around 1912, the Murray Company of Texas bought Van Winkle out and the name
of the plant was changed.

At his death in 1923, over a decade after he sold the factory, the Atlanta
Journal said of him:

[He] had an important effect upon the development of the cotton manufacturing
industry in the South. [Upon his arrival in the South] practically all
of the cotton raised in the South was shipped elsewhere to be manufactured.
. . [The establishment of his factory in Atlanta] gave a powerful impetus
to the development of the cotton manufacturing industry throughout the
section. [He] was awarded many gold medals and other prizes at various
expositions for the mill machinery he had invented.

During World War II, the plant was used to produce ammunition and mortars for
the war effort. In the mid-1950s, the site was sold to David C. Black after
whose death in 1966 the site was held in trust by the Trust Company of Georgia,
until 1972, when it was purchased by Robert S. Haywood, the present owner.

Presently, a number of activities take place here. Southeastern Metal Products
manufactures boat trailers, operates a sheet-metal shop and continues the site's
connection with the cotton industry by selling cotton-gin parts and machinery.
Other buildings are leased to firms that include: glass blowers, stained-glass
creators, makers of cypress table tops, a novelty T-shirt firm, a lumberyard,
an automobile-repair shop and a company producing hardened steel. The continuity
of activity at this location has prevented its disuse, decay, and demolition,
fates that have befallen many similar industrial complexes.

In terms of architecture, landscape architecture and engineering, the E. Van
Winkle Gin and Machine Works (the Murray Company) is significant as a well-planned
and carefully designed late-nineteen-century industrial complex.

Especially
noteworthy is the way in which conventions of architecture, engineering and
landscaping are integrated in the overall plan and design of the complex. The
complex is eminently industrial in character, the result of late-nineteenth-century
engineering principles applied to problems of design and construction. Yet the
cross-axial layout and the hierarchical arrangement of the buildings reflect
period Beaux-Arts principles of composition. The buildings themselves, for the
most part, featuring load-bearing-masonry exterior walls and "slow-burning"
plank-and-timber interiors, are rather simple and straightforward (even conservative)
works of late-nineteenth-century engineering. They are highlighted, however,
by subtle details that reveal attention to aesthetics as well as utility; these
details include corbelled and dentilled cornices and parapets, articulated segmental
arches over windows and doorways, and accentuated brick bonding patterns. In
some structures, like the Locker Room, new building technology is taken advantage
of, but even here the reinforced poured-concrete walls are detailed to be attractive
as well as durable. On the other hand, the office building, with its Sullivanesque
design and diagonal orientation, is clearly set off from the other manufacturing
buildings in terms of form as well as function, yet it is related to them in
terms of materials, scale, and massing. The efforts at landscaping show a similar
concern for aesthetics in the midst of utility. Of interest is the fact that
the landscaping is concentrated in those areas where people congregated: around
the Locker Room, the office building, and the demonstration buildings, and along
the main highway approach to the complex.

The soundness of the underlying principles and of the execution of the original
plan and design for this industrial complex can be seen in the way that the
complex has developed over time. The original cross-axial layout and hierarchical
arrangement has proved to be a workable framework around which growth and development
could take place. Renovations, additions, and new constructions -- not always
sensitively done in and of themselves -- have been accommodated by the original
scheme of development. They have elaborated upon but not overwhelmed it. These
accretions also lend an "organic" feeling to the complex, giving it a visible
and tangible sense of history.

As an industrial artifact, the E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works is significant
because it constitutes, in an almost fully preserved state, a complete and integrated
late-nineteenth-century manufacturing complex.

With interpretation provided by available documentation, the entire process
of manufacturing cotton-ginning equipment can be traced through the complex
as it stands today : the delivery and storage of raw materials, the fabrication
of various materials into components, assembly and finishing, and warehousing
and shipping finished products. Administrative facilities, power supply and
distribution, and utilities and services and amenities are also in evidence.
Some of the original power equipment is still in place and possibly operational;
some of the original manufacturing equipment may still be on the site.

The complex also makes an interesting and emphatic statement about the late-nineteenth
century outlook on transportation: it is principally oriented toward the railroad
and not the highway.

Thus, to reiterate, the site's significance rests in that it is a virtually
intact late-nineteenth--century manufacturing plant (with some modernizations
that remains an ongoing enterprise). Not only do the exteriors of the buildings
reflect the original plan of the site (with some modernizations), but the interiors
reflect the advancements of technology since the 1880s as the use of overhead
shafting to distribute power emanating from a central power source to the other
buildings.

(Photo 1 above is Murray Companys' South elevation.
Photo 2 is taken even further south where King Plows east elevation can
be seen on the left).

Description of
present and historic physical appearance:

The E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works (the Murray Company) consists of a
complex of industrial buildings on an 11.3-acre site serviced by rail lines
in northwest Atlanta. The complex was built between the early 1880s and the
early 1930s. Most of the principal industrial buildings were built by 1911;
many of the surviving secondary structures - display, storage, services and
utilities, etc. - were built between then and the Depression. For
the most part, the complex consists of one-,two- and three-story, redbrick buildings
with load-bearing masonry exterior walls and "slow-burning" timber-and-plank
interiors. A small number of cast-iron structural elements are employed. There
are also a few wood-framed buildings, some sheathed in corrugated sheet metal,
and one reinforced poured-concrete building and one steel-framed structure.
These buildings are all uniformly utilitarian in their inward and outward appearances.
The complex of buildings developed over a period several decades and, like the
buildings themselves, was shaped by practical and functional considerations.
Evident in spite of the exigencies of time, however, is the original scheme
which guided the planning and development of the complex. In both its plan and
design, the complex subscribes to period Beaux- Arts principles of cross-axial
layout and hierarchical arrangement. The buildings and the yards are organized
around north-south and east-west cross- axes. When viewed from the south, the
complex features a raised, projecting central pavilion, lower flanking wings,
and projecting end pavilions. Most of the original buildings and yards have
survived intact, although some have been altered and others destroyed or replaced,
the complex as a whole has retained its integrity.

(Note from Historian@Artery.org - Photographs mentioned below are
not included in this publication but they can be found in the Archives of The
National Register nomination records available at The Georgia Historic Preservation
Department of Natural Resources).

Building No. 1, located at the western edge of the complex, is a low
rectangular, detached structure, one-story high, 110 feet by 200 feet in plan.
It has a steel frame encased in concrete, multiple-paned windows set in metal
frames, a concrete floor, a flat plank-on-timber roof, and some corrugated metal
siding. On top of the roof are two continuous full-length northward- facing
sawtooth skylights. Building No. 1 was built in 1919 and was originally used
as a machine shop and then as a facility for crating, storing, and shipping
products. Currently, it is being used as a metal fabrication plant. (Building
No. II is visible in the background of photographs 11, 12 and 13.)

Building No. 2, located near the western edge of the complex, is, in
fact, two distinct contiguous buildings. The earlier "east section" was built
between 1899 and 1911; the later "west section" was built between 1911 and 1931.
The "east section" is a two-story building, 40 by 61 feet in plan, set into
a slope. The load-bearing exterior walls are built of common brick laid in American
bond with five rows of light-colored stretchers to one row of dark-colored headers.
Interior construction is "slow-burning" plank-and-timber. The structure is strengthened
by iron rods, which are fixed to the face of the exterior walls by star-shaped
iron anchors. Original windows and doorways were capped by segmental brick arches
fashioned from double rows of dark-colored headers; these original openings
have since been infilled with brick to frame rectangular steel window sash and
doorways. There is a shallow corbelled brick cornice with simulated dentils
of edge-laid brick. The original roof may have been either flat or pitched.
The west section" is similar to the "east section" except for its narrower dimensions
(28 by 61 feet), its original rectangular window and door openings, and the
absence of iron reinforcing members and cornice. Both sections now share a broad,
low pitched, gabled roof with low raking parapets. The "east section" was originally
a "hardware warehouse;" shortly after construction of the "west section," the
entire building was devoted to woodworking and pattern storage. It is presently
occupied by Rose Enterprises. (Building No. 2 is shown in photograph 12, right,
and in photograph 13; details of wall construction are shown in photograph 6.)

Building No. 3, located at the west end of the main industrial complex,
was built by 1899 and then either enlarged or replaced by 1911. The surviving
structure is a two-story-high, gable-roofed, brick building with dimensions
of 60 feet by 140 feet. Load-bearing walls are built of uniformly colored brick
laid in common bond with a ratio of five stretchers to one header. Segmental
window and doorway arches are fashioned from triple rows of header bricks. One-piece
sills are cut stone. First-floor windows are paired, six-over-twelve-over-six
triple sashes; second-floor windows, with one exception in the north gable (a
window like those on the first floor), are paired twelve-light fixed sash. The
sash is wooden throughout. The original packed-earth floor has been covered
by concrete. The gable roof carries a clerestory skylight in two sections; this
monitor has since been blinded. The roof was originally of fireproof construction
(either slate or tin), but is now surfaced with composition shingles. There
is a four-step, corbelled-brick horizontal cornice. The raking cornice is crudely
finished "tumbled" brickwork. The interior of the building is one vast open
space spanned by wooden roof trusses considerably darkened with smoke and soot.,
Between 1899 and 1911, Building No. 3 was flanked to the north and east by one-story
brick sheds. These sheds were demolished when the building was enlarged or replaced
by 1911. Building No. 3 was originally a foundry and has been subsequently used
for "finished product" and then spray painting and assembly. Today, it is used
as a welding shop. The sheds which once flanked the building were used for "rattling,
grinding, finishing and pattern storage. "(Building No. 3 appears in photographs
11, 12 (left) and 5.)

Building No. 4, offset from the northern end of the main industrial
complex, was built between 1899 and 1911. It was a one-story-high brick building,
48 by 98 feet in plan, with an earth floor (later concrete), "slow-burning"
plank-and-timber interior, and a gable roof with a full-length monitor. It was
originally used as a blacksmith shop and contained a case hardening furnace
at the west end vented to a 35-foot-high, freestanding iron chimney. In 1931,
the building was simply identified as a "factory," and the furnace and chimney
were gone. Recently, this building was demolished; only the foundation and some
low crumbling brick walls remain. (The remains of Building No. 4 can be seen
in the foreground of photograph 9.)

Building No. 5 constitutes the west wing of the main industrial complex.
One of the original buildings, it was completed by 1899. The major part of Building
No. 5 is a long, narrow brick building, 60 by 171 feet in plan and two stories
high, with a simple gable roof. The brick walls are laid in a common bond with
a ratio of six stretchers to one header; all the bricks are of uniform color.
Doorways and windows, the latter on the ground floor containing sixteen-over-sixteen
double wooden sash and on the second floor twelve-over-twelve double sash, are
segmentally arched with triple rows of header bricks. The cornice is simple
and shallow, with five courses of corbelled brick. The interior is for the most
part "slow-burning" plank-and-timber, including roof trusses. Some cast iron,
in the form of fluted columns and I-beams, is used to frame openings which have
been rather crudely broken through the north walls between the major and minor
sections of the building; these openings appear to be alterations, since traces
of the original segmental arched openings can still be seen. Interior and exterior
construction are tied together with iron reinforcing bars that terminate in
star shaped anchors on the exterior face of the brick walls. The first floor
of the main part of Building No. 5 originally housed a machine shop; the second
floor was used as a pattern shop and as a facility for finishing and painting.
Assembly and storage functions were later introduced. Most of this part of the
building is now vacant. There has been some minor damage, mostly to window sash
and frames, from a recent fire. The minor part of Building No. 5 is a one-story,
shed-roofed brick addition, 40 by 124 feet in plan, attached to the north side
of the main part of the building. It is similarly constructed and detailed,
except that the ratio of stretchers to headers is five-to-one and the cornice
has only four courses of corralling. There are two rectangular, wood-framed
skylights in the roof. Some windows and doorways, especially on the east wall,
have been altered or infilled. This shed was originally a blacksmith shop; after
construction of a new, detached blacksmith shop, by 1911 (Building No. 4), this
shed was incorporated into the main machine shop (this undoubtedly accounts
for opening the wall between the major and minor sections of Building No. 5).
Also, a part of Building No. 5 is a small, almost square (35 by 40 feet), one-story
brick shed attached to the southeast corner of the major part of the building
and contiguous to it and Building No 7. This shed served at the office of the
E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works until no later than 1911, when a new, detached
office building (Building No. 10) had been constructed. This shed was subsequently
used as a machine shop and tool room. (The main part of Building No. 5 appears
to the right in photograph 0, and the minor part is shown in photograph 10;
the original office was not photographed.)

Building No. 6 and Building No. 7 are virtually identical in terms of
design and construction. Together they create a single large structure that
constitutes the north-south axis of the original industrial complex built by
1899. Building No. 6 is 60' by 118' feet in plan, and Building No. 7 is 60'
by 100' feet. Both are three stories high. They are built of brick laid in a
common bond with a ratio of six stretchers to one header; the bricks are uniformly
colored. Windows and doorways are segmentally arched with triple rows of headers.
Windows on all floor levels contain twelve-over-twelve double wooden sash. The
roof is flat and finished with a five-course corbelled cornice and a low parapet
that steps up or down slightly every four or five bays The south facade has
the highest parapet, and the brick walls between the upper floors were painted
with the legend, "Van Winkle Gin & Machinery Co." Presumably this is the "front"
of the building and of the complex. Interior construction is "slow-burning"
timber-and-plank. A loading shed was added to the north end of Building No.
6 by 1931. Both ends of this consolidated building are serviced by rail lines,
however. An unusual feature of the buildings is an arched tunnel at ground-floor
level through the structure at its midpoint, permitting free access from one
yard to the other. Above the tunnel on the east wall is an iron sign, set into
the brickwork, bearing the date, "1889." Judging from the evidence in the brickwork
where the two buildings are connected, Building No. 6 and Building No. 7 appear
to have been built at different times, although both were constructed by 1899.
Together, they constituted the principal warehouse and shipping depot of the
industrial complex. Secondary manufacturing functions, including varnishing,
painting, and erecting were also incorporated into the structure. Today, the
buildings are subdivided and leased to small manufacturing enterprises. (Buildings
Nos. 6 and 7 appear in photographs 3, right; 4; 8; and 9, left.)

Building No. 8 is actually three distinct contiguous structures. Together,
they constitute the east wing of the original industrial complex. The "west
section" of Building No. 8 is in essence an "extension" of the major part of
Building No. 5. In design, construction and detailing, it is identical, indeed
a mirror image; only in its slightly smaller dimensions -- 60 by 100 feet --
does it differ. Dating from the original decade of construction it was first
used for woodworking, testing, and constructing. By 1911, it had been outfitted
as a machine shop on the first floor and a "gin making and wood shop" on the
second floor. By 1931, it had been converted again, this time to sheet-metal
fabrication. Today, it is leased to a small metal fabricating company. The "east
section" of Building No. 8 was originally a one way, gable-roofed, brick building
with the approximate dimensions of 50 feet by 100 feet. It was completed by
1899. The legend, "planing mill," painted in bold white letters across the south
facade, announced its purpose. By 1911, the mill had either been enlarged to
or replaced by a two-story, flat roofed brick building. This new building was
similar in design and construction to Buildings No. 6 and 7. The planing mill
was located on the first floor and a woodworking shop occupied the second floor.
This newer building is the surviving structure. The "south section" of Building
No. 8 is a nearly square (40 feet by 42 feet), one-story, brick building with
a gable roof and a skylight. The interior is primarily "slow-burning" timber-and
plank, but some cast iron in the form of fluted columns is used to frame crude
openings cut through the brick wall into the "east" and "west" sections. This
section was built between 1899 and 1911 and served as a machine shop. (Building
No. 8 is shown in photographs 2, right, and 3, left.) Within the courtyard formed
by the south and west sections of Building No. 8 and Building No. 7 stand the
remains of the original boiler room, a small but massively scaled one-story,
gable-roofed brick building. A tapering, square section brick chimney once stood
adjacent to the boiler room.

Building No. 9 is located at the west end of the main industrial complex.
It is actually two distinct but contiguous structures. In 1899, the site of
Building No. 9 contained a lumber-drying house with a 60-foot framed chimney
and a lumber shed. By 1911, the drying house had been replaced by a frame shed
(itself destined for replacement), and the lumber shed had been replaced by
a brick building -- the "east section" of Building No. 9. This building is two
stories high, 50 by 65 feet in plan, and has a gable roof. The brick walls are
laid in a common bond with a ratio of five stretchers to one header. Windows
and doorways are framed above by flat brick arches; windowsills are also of
brick, laid on edge. The original sash was multi-paned and double hung, but
has in most cases been replaced by newer sash or opaque panels. A two-course
corbelled cornice leads up to horizontal and raking parapets. The interior arrangement
consists of a ground floor below and a three-sided balcony above. Interior construction,
including roof trusses, is primarily of timber and plank, with some cast-iron
columns. The "east section" of Building No. 9 was originally used by the "motor
truck department." By 1931, the "west section" of Building No. 9 had been built
between the "east section" and Building No. 8. The "west section" is-essentially
an extension of the east section." The roof, however, is constructed of I-beams
and sheet metal, and cast-iron columns are used on the first floor. By 1931,
both sections of Building No. 9 housed woodworking operations. Today, the space
has been subdivided into offices and storage. Overhead shafts, pulleys, and
belts, and some motors and other pieces of equipment are still in place and
in some cases apparently still operational. (Building No. 9 appears in the center
of photograph 2.)

Building No. 10, located at the eastern edge of the complex and aligned
diagonally along Foster Street, is a detached structure which was built between
1899 and 1911. It measures 40 feet by 57 feet in plan and is two stories high
with a flat roof. Exterior walls are common red brick laid in stretcher bond.
The interior is framed. The design of this building is, loosely speaking, Sullivanesque.
The walls are articulated in a series of two-story-high shallow-relief arcades
(piers, arches, and spandrel panels). Windows on the first floor are paired
double sash, each four-over-four set in rectangular frames; lintels are described
by single courses of header bricks, and sills are one-piece roughly-cut stone.
Second-floor windows are similar but set under projecting elliptical arches,
framing transom windows with radiating tracery. The brick cornice is corbelled
above dentils fashioned from edge-laid headers. The main entry, on the northeast
facade, is topped by a four-centered arch containing a four-light transom above
double doors. The entrance is prefaced by a one-story, shed-roofed wooden porch
running the full width of the building. This building is connected to the main
body of the industrial complex by an enclosed, elevated metal walkway (a later
addition). As announced by a large white sign painted on the northern corner
of the structure, Building No. 10 was originally the office building (and remained
so through the 1960s). Today it is vacant. (Building No. 10 is shown in photographs
1 and 2, left.)

Warehouse No. 1 is located directly north of the main industrial complex.
The warehouse was built between 1899 and 1911. It is 76 by 220 feet in plan,
and one story high with a broad gable roof and a low, full-length construction
sheathed with corrugated sheet metal. The east-end wall, which apparently is
not original, is a firewall with stepped and raking parapets and lateral extensions.
It is built of brick laid in a common bond with a ratio of five stretchers to
one dark-colored header. Several broad, segmental arched doorways have been
infilled with newer brick panels or doors. Warehouse No. I was originally called
a "Gin Mill Ware House" and was connected to the north end of Building No. 6
by an overhead bridge; now it serves for miscellaneous storage. (Warehouse No.
1 can be seen just left of center in the background of Photograph 14 and to
the left in photograph 15.)

Warehouse No. 2 is located directly east of Warehouse No. 1. Like No. 1, it
is a wood-framed-structure, sheathed in corrugated sheet metal, with a broad
able roof and a full-length monitor. Unlike No. 2, it is shorter and wider (80
by 110 feet) and two stories high, and it is lighted by twelve-overtwelve double-sash
windows on each floor level (some of which have been altered and/or damaged).
Brick walls at the ends and the corners of the building serve to help fireproof
and stabilize the structure (much like bookends). Warehouse No. 2 was built
between 1911 and 1931, on the site of a lumberyard and a paint-and-oil house.
It is connected to Warehouse No. 1 by an open framed shed. (Warehouse No. 1
is shown in the center of photograph 14 and in the right foreground of photograph
15.)

The Ginnery Building is located east of the main industrial complex
and, like the office building, is diagonally aligned along Foster Street. It
was built between 1911 and 1931, on the site of an earlier "Auto Truck Warehouse."
It is a windowless, wood-framed structure sheathed with corrugated sheet metal
siding and a composition roof. Its massing is complex and irregular with a variety
of one-, one-and-a-half and two-story-high shed and gable roofed components
loosely organized around a northeast-southwest axis. The Ginnery Building originally
housed demonstration cotton-ginning equipment. Today, it is leased to arts-and-crafts
enterprises specializing in stained and blown glass. (The Ginnery Building appears
in photograph 16.)

The Seed Cotton House is located behind (to the northwest of) the Ginnery
Building. It is a one-and-a-half-story-high, octagonally shaped building with
a "diameter" of 24 feet. It is framed with dimensioned lumber and sheathed with
board-and-batten siding. The roof is surmounted by a weathervane.

The Seed Cotton House was one of three buildings built between 1911 and 1931
to service the demonstration equipment in the Ginnery Building; the Seed Cotton
House was originally flanked by a Boll-extractor House (on the southwest) and
a Seed Hopper (on the northeast). Only the Seed Cotton House has survived, and
today it is unused. (The Seed Cotton House appears in photograph 17.)

The Superintendent's Office is situated in a yard directly north of
the party wall between Buildings No. 8 and 9. The office is a one-story building,
18 by 42 feet in plan. The lower half of the exterior walls is common-bond brick;
the upper half is a continuous series of multiple-paned windows framed in wooden
sash. There is a single paneled wood door on the east facade. The Superintendent's
Office may have been built as early as 1911 as a "storeroom." By 1931, it had
acquired its administrative function. Today, it is vacant and inaccessible because
of undergrowth and debris in front of the building. The Locker Room is located
directly west of the Superintendent's Office, in a yard -north of Building No.
8. It was built between 1911 and 1931, on the site of an earlier "gin mill warehouse"
(which was similar to Warehouse No. 1).

The Locker Room is a one-story building, 30 by 90 feet in plan, with
a gable roof and a monitor. The building is built entirely of reinforced poured
concrete. The exterior walls are articulated by a series of shallow relief piers
that frame recessed spandrel panels, windows, and doorways. The grounds around
the Locker Room show signs of previous landscaping efforts: the remains of a
lawn, some trees and bushes, and concrete sidewalks and stairways. (The Locker
Room is shown in photograph 18.)

The Water Tower is located directly east of Warehouse No. 2. The water
tower consists of a 20,000-gallon cylindrical tank on top of an 80-foot-high
trestle. The tank is made from riveted boiler plate and is festooned with a
crenellated metal cornice. The trestle is articulated, having trusses for its
compression members and rods for its tension members. The water tower was definitely
in place by 1931, and it may have been erected by 1911 (there is a slight discrepancy
in the figures giving the volume of the tanks). It is still standing today.
(The water tower can be seen in photograph 14.)

A flagpole stands near Foster Street, some 300 feet east of the water
tower. It is a simple metal pole, in several "telescoping" sections, originally
painted white. It once stood in the center of a circular, landscaped ground
in this undeveloped part of the complex. Since the early-twentieth century,
this flagpole has been standing at this corner of the property as a sign of
approach along Foster Street, the principal highway access to the industrial
complex. (The flagpole is visible at the far right of photograph 16.)

The grounds around the E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works (the Murray
Company) are for the most part a series of interlocking graveled yards. Two
major yards are formed by the cross-axes of Buildings No. 6 and 7 and Buildings
No. 5 and 8; these large yards are connected by a ground-level tunnel between
Buildings No. 6 and 7. Smaller yards are created by the arrangement of other
buildings in the complex. These yards are now used as thoroughfares or for parking
and outdoor storage. Some have been paved with concrete. Others are gravel or
merely dirt. A number of the smaller spaces especially are overgrown with coarse
grass, bushes and trees. There are some signs of landscaping effort, such as
the trees and grass behind the Ginnery Building, the trees, grass, sidewalks,
and stairways around the Locker Room, and the grounds around the flag pole.
Presumably, some of the large trees scattered about the complex and especially
around the office building result from deliberate landscaping as well. Access
to and through the grounds was originally and primarily by railroad. The industrial
complex is located at a junction of north-south and east-west railroads; main
lines swept past the complex along its south side and around to the west. A
spur line from the west services the south (front) side of the complex. Another
spur line, from the east, runs through the major yards of the complex and services
the warehouse facilities on the north side of the complex. Both spur lines are
still in place, but neither is usable at present. Highway access was always
secondary to the railroads -- almost an afterthought ---and, in terms of planned
facilities, it still is, although truck transportation is now wholly responsible
for shipping into and out of the complex. Highway access is from the northeast,
along Foster Street. Two driveways branch off from Foster Street; one, between
the office building and the demonstration building, leads directly into the
east yard (along the line of the railroad spur), and the other follows the northern
boundary of the property around the principal buildings to the west yard.

Equipment: There is no significant historical equipment or machinery
remaining relating to the ginning operations.